# Lucy's obsessive licking In the last 1.5 months or so, Lucy has developed this really bad habit of licking the floor. Just about every time she enters the kitchen or the living room, she will walk around nose to the floor looking for spots to lick. She has always liked licking (as many of you already know, I am now bald be… ## Thread In Behavior · started by _dlroberts · 9 replies - **Category:** [Behavior](https://nihonken.org/community/c/behavior) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## _dlroberts · 2009-01-05T20:50:53.000Z In the last 1.5 months or so, Lucy has developed this really bad habit of licking the floor. Just about every time she enters the kitchen or the living room, she will walk around nose to the floor looking for spots to lick. She has always liked licking (as many of you already know, I am now bald because of her ;-)), but this has gone to a new level. I've easily trained her to stop licking me and other people, but I'm having no luck with this floor licking behavior. The frustrating part is that I'm pretty sure she would get bored and forget about it if I didn't do anything. But I can't just let her do it. With her IBD sensitivity, if she licks the wrong thing it could set her back months. I have a couple of theories: Her nutritionist has suggested the floor licking is an indication of her looking for additional nutrition. This would makes some sense since she got bad when she was having her worst IBD fare up. Now that she's doing better, her licking continues/has gotten worse though. I understand that licking can be a sign of boredom or compulsive behavior. She does groom herself a bit, but no more than Joey. And she doesn't tend to fixate on a spot on the floor (unless its a pillow that I've slept with, then she'll lick on spot obsessively). Boredom does seem like a potential cause because she doesn't touch the toys I leave around. She just lays around. It has become a game to her (sorta fits with the boredom thing). She knows that I'll correct her so she pushes my buttons and tries to lick. Like I said before, I'd love to just ignore her so she'll forget how much fun it is to make me chase her around the kitchen, but I'm terrified she'll find some chicken crumb that missed the trash can or some grease that splattered off the stove that I (or more likely my roommate) didn't notice. So, anyone have any good training suggestions? I was successful in training her to stop licking me using a combination of teaching her to lick on command and then making her wait and using licking me as a reward. I don't see a good way to map that training to licking the floor. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have! ## ljowen123 (moderator) · 2009-01-05T23:03:58.000Z I wish I did - my brain isn't functioning well today due to lack of sleep, but I'll think about it and see what I can think of. ## baanton · 2009-01-06T00:01:27.000Z Gosh Dave, I'm not sure. Our former dog, Joe, and also Josephine were/are lickers due to excessive show of affection, I think! With Joe I constantly told him "no lick", and rewarded when he backed off. We reached the point with him that anyone could use the command, and he would not lick them (leaving those who liked to get licked still able to enjoy(??) that slobbery pleasure!). Seems to be the way its working with Josephine, too, but (mind you, she's still young) it seems to only work maybe half the time. But neither dog licked an inanimate object like the floor, etc. Nevertheless with all training, it seems like consistency and perseverance pay off. Maybe try something to distract her from the licking while giving the command? (Of course, if that would be a treat each time, it could be detrimental to her weight/well-being --- perhaps praise or a favorite toy?). I hope my thoughts are helpful... Best of luck with that! ## Romi (admin) · 2009-01-06T01:56:09.000Z Hmmm...."Leave It" Command? Ninja licks a lot of things. The carpet, the tile,the couch,the bed, sheets, everything. I just say "Leave It" and he leaves it. Ninja's licking is probably not as bad as Lucy's though. Maybe she just wants more of your attention? You could always go back to crating when you don't have time to supervise her and make sure she doesn't go lick. Hopefully after a couple weeks or months of not being able to lick when she wants to or without being corrected right away, she will forget about it and move on? ## _dlroberts · 2009-01-06T11:48:49.000Z She is crated when I can't supervise her, this happens when I'm around. If I'm doing the dishes in the kitchen or even if I just walk in there to get a drink she will follow me and try to lick the floor. Its very frustrating. I probably correct her for it 30-40 times a day. ## Sangmort (moderator) · 2009-01-06T11:50:18.000Z Maybe she's nervous about something? Is it only in the kitchen? Hope Lucy's feeling ok. ~ ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2009-01-06T11:52:39.000Z I was going to say use "leave it" also, though I've not had to handle excessive licking before. The cairn that we sit sometimes, Eva, has an obsessive licking habit, she does it when she's nervous or bored. Leave it doesn't work 100% of the time unless with give her something in return, like a toy or bone to lick or something. I know she also gets frantic when alone or during T-storms and the DAP plug in curbs her nervous licking well. I'll ask her owner for any other things she does... ## sunyata · 2009-01-06T18:29:46.000Z Nola licks the walls. Not sure why... but she apparently gets a kick out of it. I have used the 'leave it' command fairly successfully with her and the walls. There have only been a few times where she has been so into it that I had to verbally correct her (mostly to get her attention) and then tell her to leave it. What kind of floors do you have in your kitchen? If they are un-sealed wood/tile/stone, the floor could be porous and retain spilled liquids/food. And she may be smelling it, and wanting to taste it. Because of her IBD, she may be more sensitive to the smells/wanting the taste than Joey. Just a guess. Maybe a really good floor deep-cleaning will help? ## _dlroberts · 2009-01-06T23:11:56.000Z Good though Casey. I'm thinking along the same lines as you as she seems to focus her licking efforts in areas that are likely to have been spilled on in the past (around the stove/sink and under the table). There is stone tile in there which, near as I can tell, is original to the house (1989) so has seen 4 different families spill who knows what on them. I'll look into a good deep cleaning and see what I can turn up. Thanks for the suggestion! ## KFontaine04 · 2009-01-07T10:14:59.000Z Dave, for tile invest in a good steam mop. They are the greatest! Plus there are no harsh chemicals. I swear by mine for all my tile and wood floors. --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)